Hokage: Unable to persuade Madara, I chose to build my own ninja village.

Chapter 49: The enraged Hashirama Senju is utterly wicked! Tobirama Senju, acting as an accomplice, aids and abets evil!

It's too small; it limits your perspective!

At this point, Tobirama Senju realized that his perspective was still too narrow.

He originally thought that asking for 8 billion ryo was already outrageous, but he didn't expect Uchiha Makoto to be even more outrageous.

He could embezzle 5 billion taels of silver without hesitation.

He didn't even blink while he was speaking, as if those 5 billion taels of silver were his own money all along. It's truly terrifying!

This was the first time in his life that Tobirama Senju had encountered something like this, and he hesitated slightly. Faced with such an astronomical sum, he was incredibly tempted, but he was also genuinely worried about the opinion of the Fire Country Daimyo. Even though Makoto Uchiha was patting his chest and saying that he could completely represent the Fire Country Daimyo in making this decision.

Can we believe everything that Makoto Uchiha, the naturally evil brat, says?

You must always remain skeptical!

Tobirama Senju: "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Uchiha Makoto: "If you don't tell and I don't tell, who will know about this?"

Hashirama Senju: "But this is deceiving the daimyo, and with such a large sum of money at that."

"Oh, I see. You mean you think it's too much? Then Konoha will still take 8 billion ryo. I can actually take 7 billion ryo by myself. You don't want it, but I do!"

Uchiha Makoto casually planned to pocket the 2 billion ryo used to bribe Konoha as hush money.

As for the concerns of Hashirama and Tobirama, he didn't take them to heart at all. Even the daimyo of the Land of Fire would feel the pinch of 15 billion ryo.

But that money came from the national treasury, not from his private stash. The daimyo has always been clear about separating public and private matters, so even though it hurts, it's not unbearable. Besides, the fire daimyo is still terrified of Konoha, so he doesn't mind spending money to avoid trouble.

"No, no, no, let's do it this way!"

Tobirama Senju immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum. This was a full two billion ryo, how could it be given to Makoto Uchiha for nothing? Moreover, he had also embezzled the five billion ryo that originally belonged to Konoha!

That born evil Uchiha brat!

Their corruption is even more ruthless than mine!

No wonder he spoke so arrogantly just now, with the face of a nouveau riche. So that's why!

They're still embezzling funds that belong to Konoha!

That's so evil!

"no problem."

Uchiha Makoto smiled and nodded.

The two quickly reached an agreement, and even though they had just been arguing fiercely, they were now all smiles. Funding was the best lubricant, and Uchiha Makoto used money to smooth things over so much that Senju Tobirama couldn't keep his legs together.

Afterwards, Makoto Uchiha left Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju in the room for the time being, and went alone to report the results of the negotiations to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

"Your Highness, disaster has struck!"

"I almost got into a fight with Hashirama Senju just now!"

As soon as Uchiha Makoto saw the Fire Country Daimyo, he started shouting at the top of his lungs. The Fire Country Daimyo was so startled by Uchiha Makoto's voice that he almost fell off his chair.

"Makoto, what exactly happened just now?"

"The negotiations broke down?"

"Is Hashirama Senju really going to rebel?"

The Fire Country Daimyo bombarded Uchiha Makoto with questions, genuinely terrified of the ninja's iron fist. Makoto then gave a rough account of the negotiation process—well, actually, he made it all up.

Hashirama Senju, his face contorted with rage, looked fierce! Tobirama Senju, acting as an accomplice to evil, was utterly wicked!

They came to the Land of Fire to demand an explanation. How dare you daimyo and nobles bully Konoha like this? Do you have a death wish?

"and then?"

"In the end, it took a lot of persuasion, including bringing up the Uchiha clan, to finally convince Hashirama Senju!"

"That's good, that's good!"

"The Uchiha clan is indeed full of loyal martyrs!"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire breathed a sigh of relief and praised the Uchiha clan. Although the Uchiha clan members were a bit hot-tempered, they were loyal!

"However, Konoha still made an outrageous demand. Tobirama Senju, Hashirama's inherently evil younger brother, insisted on paying 30 billion ryo to extinguish the fire. I managed to bargain down the price to half, and can only give them 15 billion ryo before this matter can be considered settled!"

Seizing the opportunity, Uchiha Makoto insisted on leaving neither of the Senju brothers behind. He also managed to sow discord between Tobirama Senju and himself.

"Hiss! Three hundred billion taels!"

"Konoha has quite the appetite!"

"The Senju brothers are truly insatiable!!"

"Makoto, thank goodness you're here!"

A shadow fell over the daimyo of the Land of Fire, but in the end he could only sigh helplessly. What he couldn't get on the battlefield, he couldn't expect to get at the negotiating table.

Konoha is just too powerful!

"One hundred and fifty billion taels of silver, I'll pay it!"

"Consider it a loss to avoid further trouble."

"Makoto, your Akatsuki village must become strong as soon as possible! I will fully support you. I don't want to experience being forced like this again!"

The Fire Country Daimyo looked at Uchiha Makoto with deep affection. Senju Hashirama and his Konoha were no longer putting on an act and dared to come to the capital of the Fire Country to threaten him. Who knew how arrogant and domineering he would become in the future!

"Don't worry, Your Highness."

"I will definitely do my best!"

"All of this is for the Land of Fire!"

Uchiha spoke with heartfelt sincerity.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire was deeply moved.

Cheng is truly loyal beyond words!

"These are all the agreed-upon amounts reached during today's negotiations. Please take a look, Your Highness."

"Okay, let me see."

The Fire Country Daimyo took the agreement from Uchiha Makoto and read it through line by line. When he read that Konoha and Akatsuki would work together to protect the Fire Country and maintain the Fire Country Daimyo's rule, a sneer appeared on his face.

Protect me, protect the Land of Fire?

When your Konoha Village is fully developed and has the ability to completely control the Land of Fire, things will probably be different today.

In the Land of Fire, there is only one person who can command the wind and rain, and that is me. There is only one ninja village that can shelter you from the wind and rain, and that is Akatsuki. Konoha will be a traitor sooner or later!

It's not true!

"Makoto, you did a fantastic job!"

"I'll leave everything to you to handle."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire once again demonstrated his high level of trust in Uchiha Makoto, handing over all the agreement funds to him for handling. As long as Uchiha Makoto thought there were no problems, he could affix his daimyo's golden seal to these agreements today.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness!"

Things went even more smoothly than Uchiha Makoto had imagined. The daimyo's preconceived notions, coupled with Senju Hashirama's immense strength and Uchiha Makoto's persistent promotion of the Senju Hashirama conspiracy theory, led the Fire Country daimyo to almost conclude that Senju Hashirama was a ruthless and cunning schemer. Under this logic, it was really difficult for the Fire Country daimyo to discern the truth. At least logically, what Uchiha Makoto said was not wrong at all.

Unless he was there at the time.

It's a pity.

At that time, there were only three people in the room: Uchiha Makoto, Senju Tobirama, and Senju Hashirama.

(End of this chapter)